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Rotman’s 2016 Intake – Application is Open!

We are officially live with all components of the 2016 application for Rotman’s full-time MBA Program! Our team is already out travelling the world to meet prospective applicants for our next class (Fall 2016 intake) and with the Round 1 deadline next month so it seemed like the right time to share some background on what you can expect from the Rotman application this year. We have five official deadline dates as follows:

Round 1: October 19, 2015 (Decision by December 18, 2015)

Round 2: January 11, 2016 (Decision by February 26, 2016)

Round 3: February 29, 2016 (Decision by April 15, 2016)

Round 4: April 18, 2016 (Decision by May 20, 2016)

Round 5: May 30, 2106 (Decision by June 24, 2016)

We are excited to introduce an innovation in our process this year with a timed written response question alongside our two video questions. We identified a need to find a tool to better assess the regular business-communication skills and ‘voice’ of our applicants. We find a great deal of value in essays – which are reflective writing pieces, and also in the GMAT AWA – a component that showcases a candidate’s ability to dissect and discuss a topic. These tools reflect some of the communication skills required for success in our Program, and in the business world broadly but we were missing an opportunity to see the more casual and real-time style our students use most frequently to write emails communicating with team members, professors, etc. and a style that they will carry forward in their careers. There is no “right” answer to this component – our team is simply interested in better understanding this element of our applicant’s communication abilities.

So after sharing this rationale what is most pressing of course is how it actually works! After completing their video questions, our candidates will receive one written response question (delivered via our video provider – Kira Talent). The question will begin by providing some context to help explain why it is relevant for a Rotman student, and our applicants will have a total of 10 minutes to read and reply to the question. This is not videotaped but is delivered ‘live’ with one opportunity to write/edit/submit. Here’s an example of the type of question we are asking (obviously not one from our actual bank :))

Often prospective MBA candidates build strong relationships, primarily online, with the admissions office. We encourage candidates to follow-up with the admissions team members they meet representing Rotman around the world.

Craft an email to the Rotman representative that you met at a recent MBA Fair reiterating your interest in the School and desire to stay connected.

As you can see – these are situational questions and there is no word limit. As an applicant it will be your call to edit to the length that seems most appropriate. We wanted to showcase the types of situations students encounter and prompt for the communication that would suit these interactions while being realistic about the amount of time a student would spend drafting something like this (again-a 10 minute maximum).

We are excited about this new component of the process and proud to be introducing an innovation to admissions this year. We will be monitoring the results and feedback to see if this provides the added value we hope!

The admissions process is important as it is an opportunity to showcase your skills, background, goals and talents and we hope our applicants feel that this new component provides one more opportunity to display all of that.

10 thoughts on “Rotman’s 2016 Intake – Application is Open!”

Hi Niki,
First of all kudos! In my opinion the written response question is an excellent method of evaluating how MBA candidates write professional responses to e-mails.
Correct me if I am wrong. I think there needs to be a right balance between use of professional and friendly language depending on who you are replying to in the e-mail and the e-mail’s subject.

Absolutely right! That is the ‘personal style’ component – and I would encourage applicants to be thinking about both accuracy (spelling/grammar) and authenticity – emails are conversational tools especially in this context.

I hope you can assist me with something. I need to answer the video essay questions for the application and I know that I can practice multiple times with Kira but my question is ( I have not opened or launched the video application yet) how am I supposed to know when I am answering the real questions? The ones you are going to evaluate. If you could shed some light on that matter I would appreciate it,
Kind regards,
Santiago

Happy to clarify Santiago! There is a clear communication that shows you when you are in the practice session, and a few checkpoints to verify you are ready to start recording. We haven’t had an applicant who was unsure about when this happens, so once you get into the system you will see the different areas within Kira. If you need any help – just call the Admissions Office. Good luck and have fun 🙂

Thanks for your post!
I have a question regarding Rotman’s GPA requirement. I completed a graduate degree after my Bachelor’s degree. I’m wondering if the grades from my graduate program (which are stronger) will be taken into consideration during the application process. Or does Rotman solely focus on the older undergraduate grades when evaluating a prospective candidate?

I hope you are having a fantastic day!. I have one question and I would like to know if you could help me. Since the school welcomed a new Dean in July 2014, are you maintaining the teaching methodology of Integrative Thinking, that if I am not wrong, was adopted by former Dean Roger Martin?

Absolutely. The Integrative Thinking methodology developed under Roger Martin, and Vice Dean Mihnea Moldoveanu is still very much a core part of the MBA curriculum. This has evolved over the years and our MBAs learn Model Based Problem Solving which is the framework differentiating Rotman from many other Schools. Our curriculum will – and should – continue to evolve in the future with our new Dean.

Hi Niki,
Definitely coming with an innovative prompt towards sifting process for MBA applicants, sets Rotman apart in standards. It clearly benchmarks the quality of education and experience that one awaits beyond the doors of Rotman. Really hats off to the initiative, it simply piques my enthusiasm to attend Rotman for the coming fall in 2016 🙂